5 arrested, 2 at large after chase of 2 vehicles in Victoria (Video)

Five people were arrested Monday and two more were being searched for after a pursuit of two vehicles ended in bailouts.

About 8:30 a.m., a Victoria County Sheriff's deputy attempted to make a traffic stop on U.S. Highway 59 South.

The vehicle, a green Nissan Xterra, failed to stop, and a pursuit began. A tan Dodge Expedition, thought to be accompanying the first car also fled, Chief Deputy Terry Simons said.

The second vehicle drove into Riverside Park, where five people were detained and interviewed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Sheriff T. Michael O'Connor said.

The first vehicle was abandoned on a private drive off U.S. 59, about 2/10 of a mile south of the intersection with U.S. Highway 77.

Two people fled into the underbrush. About 436 pounds of marijuana were discovered in that vehicle, O'Connor said.

A Homeland Security helicopter, as well as tracking dogs from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, assisted in the search that continued into the evening.

Law enforcement officials saw the two who fled in an area around F.M. 236 and Beck Road, and the area was blocked off and searched after the sighting. They were confronted at gunpoint but had not been apprehended by nightfall, O'Connor said.

The search was suspended Monday evening, but law enforcement officials were equipped with night-vision equipment and left patrolling the perimeter, O'Connor said.